A Literary Investigation Into the Agikuyu Songs of Independence

Abstract

During the political saga of colonial days in Kenya, song-texts played an important role in arousing nationalist feelings and political awareness of the ethnic communities in the country. It is our belief, therefore, that a serious literary study of song in relation to politics from one of these 'native' communities in the country should be of great interest to us, not only because it gives us an idea of the nature of the conflicts between these communities and their colonizers, but also because the aesthetics aspect of political songs in general is rarely addressed in this country. Such a study should should also be of great interest to us since resistance to colonialism in Kenya was not uniform among the ethnic communities that now comprise the nation, for during most of the colonial period (1888-1963), conflicts between these ethnic communities and Europeans were manifested differently by each of them. Hence, our concentration on one community in this Study. The study looks at the Agikuyu artists' reaction to colonialism. Through a hundred songs that span across the entire colonial period and slightly after, the Study investigates the hopes, fears and- expectations of the Agikuyu of Central Kenya during the said period. It also investigates the Songs' linguistic features and, in particular, the stylistic devices employed by the artists in their efforts to communicate immediately and effectively to their Agikuyu audience. All this is done through the eyes of the artists that either composed or recited these songs to their audience with the aim of awakening the community's political awareness. The artists also aimed at calling upon the community to revolt against the colonial government. At the same time, they endeavoured to sustain its hopes about a colonial-free Kenya. When Uhuru (independence) is finally realized, the artists call upon the community to consolidate it. After the introduction which provides the context for the interpretation of the songs, the Study deals with theoretical and methodological issues that form the basis for the analysis of the songs. Four basic themes, namely: Gikuyu nationalism, Leadership and Territorial nationalism, are addressed in Chapter Two after which stylistic and linguistic aspects of the songs are discussed. The Study ends by highlighting the importance of both content and form in song